I think Keri and I don’t differ at all in desirable end state, nor that the discrimatory premise is the root of the FTR problems. We differ in that I figure each added exception, based on simple obvious facts, strengthen cyclists rights to the road. Most places, a wholesale repeal of FTR is not in the cards anytime soon. As Forester points out, things are going in the opposite direction with the CIC mindset.

The main problem with the FTR law isn’t the lack of exceptions, it’s the discriminatory premise. We could add another half-dozen exceptions and it would still be interpreted as “cyclists must operate on a far right sliver of roadway.” That’s why we ultimately have to fight in our respective states to get rid of it.

Lane-sharing behavior to facilitate passing should only be initiated by the cyclist at the cyclist’s discretion. It is a courtesy which the individual cyclist alone must balance with his safety and right to travel on the public roads. That this courtesy is codified into law as a primary obligation with some exceptions makes us unequal road users—second-class interlopers—in the eyes of the public and many in law enforcement and the judicial system.

This is one of 2 spots on my commute where there is a pattern of “mean” behavior (that doesn’t mean it’s frequent, just that it’s more likely to happen here). I noted the straddle passes because they followed the passive-aggressive MO of using part of my lane and accelerating while the left lane is entirely clear. It’s sometimes accompanied by honking and occasionally a close pass. A few moths ago a guy buzzed me then swerved into the lane in front of me… I regarded it as a temper tantrum and pretended not to notice. I had another one begin honking when he was 1/4 mile away and lay on the horn all the way past (as he passed easily). The empty parking lane is what makes this a pattern spot because our culture believes bicyclists belong to the right of a white line. Note: I typically ride this road in light traffic and the small platoons always have a long time to change lanes before reaching me. The ugliness is 100% a social/cultural problem, it has nothing to do with delay.

Anyway, I didn’t put them in the “mean” category because they didn’t get very close and there was no honking or other indication of a temper tantrum.

My mean ones were:

The guy with the trailer who honked and passed into oncoming traffic on a road with a 25mph speed limit and speed humps he couldn’t go over at more than 20mph. He put a lot of other people at risk for no gain because he was a dick.

And the guy who screamed at me in the 1/100th of a second between the light turning green and my bike moving, then screamed at me to get on the sidewalk after he caught up to me as I was making a right turn. Funny thing about it was 1 1/2 miles before, the motorist in front of me in the queue was daydreaming and almost caused me to miss the light.

Not included in my list:

On a group ride in the country last weekend, one member of our group was assaulted by a redneck in a duely and we were yelled at to get off the road by 3 opposite-direction motorists (one yell was so loud and full of anger and hate, I was grateful we were pulling into Yalaha to get lunch). Yet, we were passed courteously by probably a couple hundred motorists. I mention it because I think it speaks to why recreational riders are more sensitive to hostility.

Actually, in the case in question, I was already far enough to the left that the cop could have safely moved to make his free RH turn on my right. I did the waddle thing mainly to remove any doubt about it in his mind and so he’d know I was expecting that he’d do it if he was so inclined. It’s probably pretty difficult to waddle in your Velocar, but I like to do it for courtesy purposes, and because it leaves all the motorists who see it with a small “plus” in their minds about cyclists that work AS traffic. I hope that it connects a dot for them about WHY I was sitting there at the left of a lane.

For the RH turn lane story as it affects cyclists – for those unfamiliar with it, read pages 284-289 of EFFECTIVE CYCLING. I really wish Forester had swallowed his irritation and listed ALL the exception for those goombahs!

Per the letter of the law, I could have gotten a ticket instead of the wave I received from the cop. It’s a law that needs to be changed. In the meantime, the cop almost got a “nice” tick mark for not enforcing a law that, in this case, slows traffic and creates unnecessary crossing movements. Forester should have ignored his irritation and listed the “cyclist doesn’t need to stay to the right when traffic has to turn right” exception when they were making up the current rules. AND KERI, you ought to TELL him that on Chainguard.

Maybe the cop didn’t ticket me because it didn’t occur to him to ticket a “nice” cyclist, maybe he just didn’t realize he was letting an outlaw proceed unpunished, or maybe he just had bigger fist to fry. I prefer to think he was using common sense & good judgment. Either way, I wasn’t about to ask why he wasn’t ticketing someone breaking the law less than five feet from him…

That being said, I had an experience that some MIGHT have construed as either “nice” OR “mean” today (initially I thought of it as mean), but upon reflection, I decided not to count it as either. I was on a freeway service road with four lanes. #1 was U turn only. #2 was LH turn only. #3 was left or straight. #4 was RH only. I was on the RH side of #3 since I wanted to go straight through the intersection. A lady in a “cute ute” in #4 honked at me as she pulled up past me. After I thought about it, I concluded she was playing it safe since, for all she knew, I might suddenly swerve right in front of her and so she honked to reduce her (and my) risk. Had she been “mean,” it would have involved repeated honking & maybe a little yelling at me through the window. Had she been “nice,” it would have been a shorter honk – just a “letting you know somebody’s passing you on your right in case you’re one of those FLAKY cyclists.” It isn’t only cyclists that get nervous about passing on the right.

This “nice” versus “mean” stuff isn’t as simple as it sounds!

Courtesy is more common than most of us imagine it to be. That Winter Park truck was simply acting courteously as part of a cyclist-motorist negotiation with you. Still, I’d count it as “nice” since it was a professional driver and aborted an intended maneuver to help you out. I’ll bet the Winter Park truck driver felt good after doing that, so you inadvertently let a little sunshine into somebody’s life.

One last item. My wife told me yesterday about her observation of a cyclist who spilled a load of groceries on the road. A truck driver stopped behind the cyclist to block traffic while he collected the load. Both principal parties KNEW the other’s intent and both left feeling better about the world. Sometimes, cycling gives us hope for the whole human race…

Oddly, on a Saturday trip to downtown Winter Park I was passed too close on Palmer by at least 4 motorists, despite a lane position which usually works well on that road… and the sharrows. It’s not helpful when oncoming motorists move far right to give them enough room for a squeeze-through straddle-pass. I’ve noticed several times Saturday drivers are more aggressive and less courteous than what I experience on the weekdays. Wonder what that’s about.

Total “mean” percentage since Keri’s post – ZERO which is not a surprise since I have only had two “mean” encounters since I started tracking my bike commutes last May. That’d work out to the ballpark not of 0.1%, but 0.01%. Those two encounters, however, are memorable, particularly the blue pickup truck with “outlaw” on its side that came around for a second pass.

Total “nice” percentage since Keri’s post – about 0.7%. Over half of those occurred since New Year which is surprising. Most of those involved out of turn niceness – the nicest was a lady who offered to let me go ahead at a four way stop & then went when I made it clear I’d rather not jump ahead – I didn’t even have to put my foot down and she made it clear she was going at my invitation so there was no element of the motorist appearing to be nice & then zooming through the intersection. Today’s nice garbage truck driver was also memorable since he’s a professional driver & they tend to follow the rules better than the amateurs.

One OTHER observation: Had I, for the sake of argument, been riding “wrong way,” there would have been a LOT more interactions since I’d be interacting with every car I was facing and I’d rapidly lose track of just how many cars were coming at me. As it is, I get passed by a lot less cars than I see going in the opposite direction which makes a lot of sense. It’s one more reason that should be mentioned in the litany of why you ought to drive WITH traffic.

Commute is from NE Tarrant County towards Fort Worth. A mix of fairly new suburbs & older ones.